


Purely Neutral

by stopmysinfulhand



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Distrust, F/M, I JUST REALLY LOVE BB UNITS OKAY, Killing, Slow Burn, TLJ Spoilers, Violence, assassinations, bb unit - Freeform, but that’s not the central theme, faint f/f bc i love girls, faint reader/poe, i love bb units sorry it really came out in this, reader is an assassin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-03-20 10:03:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13715349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stopmysinfulhand/pseuds/stopmysinfulhand
Summary: You are an assassin who goes by the professional name Mad’lin. You are known for your skill and neutrality, doing hits for whoever will hire you, whether they are from the light side or the dark.Your next target is one you never expected you would get. Honestly, you feel like you may be a little over your head.Your next target is Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order.





	1. Proposition

Darkness rolled over the city like thunder, covering your tracks as you hopped from ledge to ledge. Silent as a mouse and graceful as a cat, you jumped with practiced ease. The only light available to you was a streetlamp that illuminated the road below, but it was enough for you to see your target as you peeked through the window. A sleeping form lying prone in a bed, possibly the most vulnerable position one could be in. A shame you had to kill him. At least you’d make it quick.

You inches open the window silently and slunk in the room, sliding on a new pair of gloves. The knife on your belt seemed to burn against your thigh, almost as eager for the payoff as you were. You slipped it out of its sheath, tossed the knife up, caught it, and shoved it directly into your victim’s heart. A startled breath caught in his throat, his eyes locking with yours as the light faded quickly from them. “Nothing personal,” you told him quietly. As a courtesy, you shut his lids once he was gone, and left, the only trace of your work being the stab wound in the man’s chest.

You were quick on the route to your ship, your legs flying as you pounced from roof to roof. Once you reached your parking spot, you jumped in your ship, making a checklist of what you needed to do. Pulling out of orbit of the planet you were on was first on the list, and probably the easiest, you mused as you exited the atmosphere, pushing your little ship to light speed as soon as you could.

After plugging in the coordinates of your meeting spot, you kicked back in your seat, humming to yourself. A droid rolled up to you and beeped at you, nudging your crossed legs. You looked down at the blue BB unit and chuckled. You’d picked up the little droid after doing a job for the Resistance, taking it instead of the money they didn’t have. That usually wasn’t your style, but you guessed there was a first time for everything.

“Hi BB-2, what’s up?” you asked, stripping off your gloves. It beeped nervously to you, and you nodded in reply, gently patting its flat little head. “Yeah, it went fine buddy, don’t worry,” you assured it.

It let out a long beep that you took as a relieved sigh and rolled back to whatever it had been doing. You smiled as you watched it roll away, that small, still feeling spot in your, otherwise dead, heart warming up. You really loved that droid.

Your ship exited light speed with a slight jolt, bringing into view the sorta shady planet you’d put in coordinates for. Jakku was, in all senses of the word, a junkyard, but god damn if it didn’t make a good place to meet with your clients. You lowered your ship to the surface, landing next to a little town with a particularly hopping cantina. It reminded you a bit of the other sand planet you tended to do business on, Tatooine. However, you were in a bit of trouble with the Hutts at the moment, so Jakku was a safer bet.

BB-2 rolled next to you as you made your way to the cantina, a blaster slung on your hip and gray cloak shielding you from the blazing Jakku sun. The cantina was cool when you stepped inside, the bartender already pouring you a drink. You took a seat at the bar and grinned at the Twi’lek who handed you a whiskey. “Business good, Sel?”

He hmphed at you. You took that for a yes, as he immediately went to go help another customer. Fine with you. You had other things to do than talk to grumpy old bartenders anyhow.

Your eyes scanned the place, landing on a nervous man in too nice clothing who was seated at a booth. His hand shook as he raised his glass to his lips. Pfft. Amateur.

“Come on BB, there’s our guy,” you said to your little droid who beeped up at you in agreement. You knocked back the rest of your drink, put a coin on the table, and stalked over to where the man was sitting.

You startled him so hard he almost pissed himself as you slid into the seat across from him. BB-2 rolled next to the man’s booth to block his exit should he try to make an escape. BB already had out its little zapper and everything. You really loved that droid.

Your client started to babble out niceties, calling you by your trade name, Mad’lin. You remained silent, staring at him with judging eyes. He grew more nervous under your gaze and started to stammer more. You held up your hand to stop him. “The payment, Senator.”

He swallowed. “Well, you know, I’m not Senator yet but-“

“You will be,” you interrupted. “But you’ll be nothing if I don’t get the other half of my money.”

He swallowed thickly and nodded, passing you a bag over the table. You looked through it with a nod, satisfied with the currency you saw inside. “Pleasure doing business, Senator,” you said as you stood. The man stammered something else, but you were already walking out the cantina, BB-2 beeping happily at your heels.

“Go start the ship, BB. Back to Coruscant. I gotta make a supply run.”

The droid beeped happily and sped off to do your bidding. You pocketed the bag of currency and went to what passed for a marketplace out here. It wasn’t as bustling as the cantina, but there were still a fair amount of traders, enough that the noise was annoying.

Walking through various stalls, you picked up a fair amount of supplies and eyed a new set of knives. You bartered with the seller for a few minutes while you tested the weight of the knives in your hand. The two of you settled on a price that was just a bit more than you wanted to buy them for, but you felt drawn to the knives, so it wasn’t a huge problem.

You made the trip back to your ship with your hood up, avoiding any glances that may be tossed your way. Boarding your ship, you called at BB-2 to take off and laid your supplies on a table before going to the pilot’s chair. BB beeps at you and rolls back and forth like its trying to get your attention. “What’s up, baby?”

It beeped again and you smiled. “If you wanna see what I got, it’s on the table.”

BB beeped curiously and nudged your shin. You laughed, patting its head. “Maybe. Check it out.”

It let out a prolonged, excited whirl and rolled quickly out of the cockpit. Your eyes trained on the streaks of white through the viewport as your ship sped through space. Space travel fascinating and you had trouble wrapping your head around the fact that you were currently going as fast as light.

Your ship slowed down as you pulled near the orbit of Coruscant, BB-2 joining you in the cockpit. It always liked to watch your approach to the planet. You held open your arms and carefully lifted BB into your lap, smiling as it beeped excitedly once it saw the web of lights on the surface below. You rested your chin on BB’s head, holding the droid close in a hug. It beeped happily and rolled its head towards you, reciprocating the hug.

As you started your descent, you gently set BB-2 back on the ground, your hands flying across the controls as you worked out where to land. You steered the ship towards your hideout, close enough that you could get to your ship fast, but not close enough that someone could trace your ship to you.

You parked the ship, grabed your shit, and whistled for BB-2 to follow as you went down the ramp before locking the ship up. You walked nonchalantly and kept your hood up, talking back and forth with your small droid until you stepped up to the entrance of your hideout. The location was the opposite of remote, but it was fairly abandoned. Your building was objectively the worst one on the street, the tech totally out of date, and frankly, pretty shoddy.

But it was your home, and you loved it. BB followed you up the ramp to your door, which unlocked with both a physical key and a code on a pad. The door slid open for you, closing once you were inside and enveloping you in darkness. You handed your sack of currency to BB, who took it with its extendible hand. “Safe, please.”

The droid beeped an agreement and rolled away to put away your currency, leaving you to switch on a light and set your stuff down. The dingy yellow kitchen you were in had lost the warmth you guessed it once had, and instead was something similar to a horror movie scene, but it did the job, so you didn’t really give a shit. You filled the cabinets with your newly gained supplies.

Your weapon room was at the back of the house and it was expansive. A cabinet of blasters stood open upon your entrance and you looked over your supply, nodding to yourself. You cleaned off the knife you had used the previous evening and hung it up along with your new additions. Light glinted off the blades and a smile lit up your face. Looking around at your collection, you felt a sense of pride in your chest. You were trained in every weapon you owned, along with three types of martial arts, and you had used almost all of them to complete a job.

An empty feeling weedled itself inside you, causing your smile to fade. There was one weapon you’d always wanted to wield, but you neither had access to it, nor training, no matter how hard you tried to find it in the shady markets you visited. Such a weapon may also be considered too graceful for one of your line of business, so you didn’t get your hopes up.

BB-2 rolled into the room and beeped at you, telling you how it had secured the money for you. You thanked the droid, about to leave when you heard a knock at your front door. You glanced down at your droid in confusion. All it did was beep its shared confusion.

You silently padded to the door and looked through the peephole. The tiny window gave you a very vague view of a person in a black cloak, something held in their hands. You grabbed the blaster you kept by the door and inched it open a crack.

“Can I help you?” you asked the figure, keeping the blaster hidden behind your back.

“Are you Mad’lin?” You still couldn’t pinpoint a gender on your visitor, which troubled you. It made it harder for you to get a handle on their reason for being here.

“Could be. Depends,” you said carefully. The figure pushed back the hood of their cloak, revealing a woman with skin almost as dark as her cloak with gold lines across her cheeks that made her shine. Her dark eyes were lined with gold as well, making her stare intense. She was stunning and more than a little intimidating. You found yourself unexpectedly frozen.

“Can I come in?” Her voice was enchanting. You stammered slightly but opened your door all the way, allowing her to step inside.

She moved gracefully, like she was floating or something, and you wondered briefly if you were in love. You shook your head as you shut the door, trying to clear your head.

“I have a proposition,” she said clearly, looking around. You ran your hand through your hair.

“Yeah? Take a seat,” you gestured to the raggedy couch in the side room, whistling for BB-2 to join you. The droid rolled in happily and made a little whistle of amazement as it saw your guest. “Yeah, me too,” you murmured before sitting across from the now seated stranger.

“I want you to kill someone,” she softly, leaning forward in her seat. You exchanged a look with BB and glanced back at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Well ma’am, that is my profession, so,” you said lamely, crossing your arms over your chest. She seemed embarrassed, and suddenly she wasn’t so intimidating, she just looked like a scared young lady. “Why are you asking me to do this?”

She fiddled with her cloak, her bottom lip captured between her teeth. “I heard you’re an assassin, and I heard you work for both sides, so I thought,” she trailed off slightly. “You might be willing.”

“Uh huh.” You leaned back in your chair. “Can you pay?”

She nodded quickly and pulled a sack off her side, setting it on the coffee table separating you. A glance into the bag assured you that she had enough currency for a basic contract, so you nodded, encouraging her to explain what she wanted.

Her confidence seemed to return as she spoke. “I’m sick of the First Order and their influence on the galaxy.”

You let out an amused noise. “Who isn’t?”

She gave you a short nod before saying firmly, “It’s because of that I am requesting your help.” You remained silent, gesturing for her to continue. Her next words resonated within you and rang in your head.

“I want you to assassinate Kylo Ren.”


	2. Of Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You accept the proposition and run into an old friend along the way.

“You’re joking, right? Like, you can’t be serious.” You stared at your guest, still trying to process the words she just said to you.

She leaned forward, her dark eyes wide in desperation. “Please, Mad’lin, you don’t understand the situation.”

“Then explain it to me.” You leaned back in your seat, crossing your arms over your chest. “Maybe if it’s a particularly noble cause, I’ll knock down the price a few thousand,” you reasoned. Of course, you would never actually cut the price, but she didn’t need to know that.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment until you waved your hand to encourage her. She took a deep breath and began, “I wouldn’t seek you out if this wasn’t of dire importance.” Her eyes darted around, her thin fingers fidgeting with the dark cloak she kept around her. You swore you could almost see a thin sheen of perspiration against her rich skin.

“Go on,” you prompted.

Another breath. “My planet has recently been taken over by the First Order. Our king is doing his best to rid us of their presence, but I’m terrified they’ll kill him before he can do anything.” Her frightened gaze met yours. “Please Mad’lin, I can’t have them kill my father,” she said, her voice close to a whisper.

You didn’t know how you didn’t realize it the moment she stepped through your door. She was royalty. Of course she was. Normal people weren’t that pretty. Or at least, not by your standards. You narrowed your eyes a little and looked her over, feeling like you were seeing her for the first time. Your mind supplied a golden tiara in her short, tight curls and then something clicked. “Shit, you’re that princess, aren’t you? The one that ran away recently?”

She nodded slightly. “I had to get away. I have to help my family.” She leaned across the table and grabbed your hands, squeezing them. “You will be rewarded for your services, I assure you. But I need you to get this done.”

Your heart fluttered slightly at her touch as your eyes flicked from her face to her hands to her face again. You cleared your throat, delicately separating yourself from her. “Give me a moment,” you said as you stood, whistling for your droid to follow you into the kitchen.

You squatted behind the counter and gestured for BB-2 to come closer. “So what do you think, buddy?” you whispered conspiratorially to your droid. It beeped repeatedly at you, giving you its take on the subject.

Your mouth pressed into a hard line. “But BB, she’s asking me to assassinate Kylo Ren, who, in case you didn’t know, is now head of the most dangerous organization in the galaxy,” you hissed.

BB booped insistently and you rolled your eyes with a sigh. “When did you get all high and mighty?” BB beeped happily and twirled around your ankles as you stood.

Your guest looked over to you anxiously, her slender hands now wringing her cloak. “I’ll do it,” you said with resignation, heading back over to where she sat.

Her dark eyes lit up with joy and she stood. “You will?” When you nodded, she beamed, grasping the hand you outstretched to solidify the deal. Once again her touch made your heart start to race but that was nothing compared to the speed it picked up when she threw her arms around you.

You patted her back awkwardly and gently pushed the grateful princess away, trying to hide the blush that stained your cheeks. BB beeped out a wolf whistle, much to your utter dismay. “BB,” you hissed.

The princess, who hadn’t noticed your droid until now, squatted next to it with a smile. “What a charming droid,” she said, her tone all smiles now that you’d agreed to take the job. While she was distracted, you scooped up the bag of credits on the table, making calculations in your head.

“Haha, yeah,” you agreed, tossing the bag to your droid. It extended an arm and caught it, rolling away to put it in the safe. “Now Your Highness, it’s time to discuss the rest of the price.”

 

* * *

 

The princess was willing to pay whatever you wanted, and once both of you were pleased with the price, you escorted her out with a pleasant smile and various pleasantries, assuring her you’d get the job done before you shut the door in her face.

You dragged your hand down your face and looked down at BB-2, who beeped questioningly up at you. “How do I even kill someone with connection to the Force?” you muttered. BB offered a few beeps in reply that you ignored as you made your way to the weapons room, a number of strategies running through your head.

After a quick look through all of your supplies, despair fully settled in your chest. “I shouldn’t have taken this job,” you sighed. BB beeped out something in line with ‘You always were a sucker for a pretty face’ and you nodded. “You’re right, sadly.”

You found your eyes drawn to the empty space in your weapon’s case. If you had that weapon, maybe you wouldn’t be so hopeless. You imagined yourself holding a saber, one that was made with your strengths in mind. “I’d be on his level then,” you murmured. Then again, combat wasn’t your strong suit. That’s why you were an assassin, not a gladiator. You did your killing discreetly, like a proper lady.

Another groan of frustration left you as you started to gather the weapons you may need, blasters and knives falling into your pack gracefully. “I suppose we should gather some intel, huh BB?”

 

* * *

 

The bar you were camped out in was just crowded enough that nobody noticed you or your BB unit, but quiet enough that you could make out the conversation of the table nearest table, which happened to be filled with lesser First Order officers. They were all young with mouths loose from the alcohol and enough bravado to choke a horse. Their lack of secrecy made you sneer as they revealed all the info you needed with a knock back of a whiskey glass. Idiots.

From what you gathered, it seemed like Kylo Ren would be visiting the planet that the princess was from relatively soon, to check on the progress being made there. The idea of killing him there seemed like poetic justice. It was perfect.

You waited about half an hour before you stood, whistling for your droid to follow you. It did, chirping happily at you as it rolled at your heel. As you exited the bar, you heard beeps that sounded a lot like your little droid, but when you looked down at BB-2, you realized that hadn’t been it.

Across the gravel was another BB unit, orange and white, one of a kind. You groaned inwardly. With the familiar droid, came its familiar master. Maybe this time you could find him before he found you.

You went around the side of the building where BB-8 had rolled and sure enough, there he was, leaning against the side of his ship like it was no big deal. His head was turned away from you, his neck straining slightly like he was really trying to focus on something. You snuck silently over to him before you whispered in his ear, “Looking for something, flyboy?”

He was fast, you had to give him that. Poe had you pinned against the ship with your arms behind your back and a blaster pressed against you in 5 seconds flat. His breath left him in a sigh as his grip loosened once he realized it was you. “(Y/N).”

“Now Dameron, is that any way to greet an old friend?” you cooed, looking back at him over your shoulder. His jaw was clenched as he released you, looking much too serious, but he lightened up after a moment.

“I forgot how quiet you are. I oughta get you a bell,” he said with a smile. There was the Poe you knew.

You returned his smile and stepped close enough that your chest was almost against his. “Why?” you mused, “Plan to keep me this time?” He smirked at your comment pressed his finger to your chest. When you looked down to see what he was pointing at, he flicked your nose, making you feel like an utter fool.

“Still gullible as ever I see,” he said, his smirk as evident in his tone as it was on his face. You rolled your eyes and declined to answer, instead watching as BB-2 and BB-8 played with each. It was really precious, the way they chased each other like they were playing tag. You felt like a proud mother. A quick glance at Poe told you he was thinking similar thoughts.

A beat passed and the moment was gone, Poe now back to Serious Poe™. “What are you doing here?” His question was demanding, so you did what you usually did in the face of authority. You stuck your tongue out at him.

“I could ask you the same question, hot shot. How do you think it ends when the best slash most well known pilot in the Resistance lands on a planet crawling with First Order officers? Hm? My guess is, not well,” you hissed, watching as his eyes darted towards the spot he’d been looking earlier.

“I have it under control,” he assured you, his voice wavering slightly. You sighed in frustration before you squatted as BB-8 rolled up to you and beeped in greeting.

You spoke to the droid, “Can’t you keep him under control, BB-8?” The spherical droid beeped at you, letting you know he was trying his best but Poe wasn’t very cooperative, which drew an indignant huff from the handsome man and a laugh from you.

Standing, you leveled your gaze with your childhood friend, an understanding passing between you two that neither of you was actually going to reveal why you both were on this stupid planet, but you guessed fate was funny that way.

“I guess I’ll let you get back to what you were doing,” you said with a slight sigh. Poe gave you a debonair smile and took your gloved hand, going so far as to remove your glove so he could kiss your bare knuckles. The action caused you to roll your eyes and you pushed him playfully. “What a charmer.”

“That’s what I’ve been told,” he shot back with a wink. “See you in the atmosphere, (L/N).” The phrase was one he used often when you were both kids, training with his mother to be good little pilots for the New Republic. Oh how times had changed.

You snatched your glove back with a grin before you turned, whistling for your BB unit to follow. “Not if I see you first, Dameron,” you said with a mock salute. Then you were gone, hopping on your ship to plan your next move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi idk quite where i’m going with this but i’m on a bit of a poe kick so sorry, but kylo will be here soonish
> 
> also i felt like poe would be a good way to add in a little bit of backstory for you, the reader

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns!
> 
> This work is by request of Bella Chella, a favorite reader of mine.


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